As this forum is just starting out, we need to decide what other categories we should have. I think 3D developing is a must and also product critique. Maybe also sticker developing since it was a section on the IMVU forums but I honestly do not know how popular that section was, maybe an "Other" section would be better for questions that fit nowhere else like sticker and badge development, flash and audio products, and so on. I think it would also be good to have a place for creators to advertise their meshes and maybe free derives as well as Glam suggested.

Do you think a Critique forum should go in creating area or in a catalog form? I'm torn, I could argue for ans against for both.

What if I lumped Stickers, Avatar Art, Icons, Banners and such graphic arts all in one forum?

I personally feel like critique should go in the catalog section because it is about work that has already been done and maybe just have not been published. It just feels like it fits better there.

When it comes to any sort of art, I would think carefully about allowing people to post things like avatar art here. I used to moderate an art forum and dealing with theft and fraud issues takes a lot of work and time and would probably require someone closely connected to the art community to look after it. There is already GASR that is well moderated when it comes to theft so I'm not so sure if adding an art section here would be worth it although I understand the temptation to do so. But to answer your question, I think it would be fair to lump them together.

We used to have a right decent Philosophy group on IMVU, but after the Great Bank Bail-Out and European Austerity fiascos, it went downhill (the group owner was from Spain and they were one of the first to suffer great economic reverses).

Two things.....Politics would be awesome, there is a huge, if very feisty group out there needing a new home

Secondly, are we having anywhere to post about bugs and issues (like my no longer receiving Sales notifications again (Hotmail v Imvu issue again?) I have posted on Discussions, assuming its to be posted in the CC Gen but....well, not too sure how anyone will find that or if Mods are still have the will to go in there and sort through that mess

A section for art is probably what I would be fairly interested in. I work on a lot of my own avatar stuff. Some tend to be AP rated, but I usually stick to GA even though it always seems to push that boundary. Something to think about in that department is yes I too feel everything should be rated GA here too. Any AP related art would quickly turn into pure porn and have very little artistic value I am sure (my opinion). But clear rules on what would be considered allowed and not. For the moment I am assuming here we are following the same rules IMVU has in place until I see, or am informed otherwise. IMVU has their specific wording to what they consider AP today, but even though my artwork always takes that into thought, it seems I hit and go over that AP boundary, even though it never breaks their GA/AP rules. Sometimes it just feels some random person is making a judgment call and always defaulting to removing images, instead of looking at the rules they gave us.

That being said, maybe it would be a good idea to detail out things like that within the rules. Trying to make it as clear as possible. Following what IMVU has written for their idea behind what would be classified GA and AP.

As for art theft, it will always be a major problem. I have never been much of a person to use others work, and in most cases never buy work either. But it can become a bit out of control if there is nobody within that industry to help monitor it here. I am assuming this would be the same for every aspect of IMVU products but the art side of it seems like it would be the first and quickest to get out of control if not put in check. ;p

(edit for hate speech. ;p)

Something else that could be a possibility, and one I would really hate it to make it a bit easier. Its possible to go back to IMVU's old standard for what is considered AP by looking at the MCG. If you were to go by that, well, then most of my artwork would then be classified as AP for sure. My current DP does not cover the MCG areas, but, it does follow the newer rules. It might make things easier to deal with when it comes to what is allowed and not.

I'd love to see a General Misc. forum like the old one. All topics having to do with IMVU. And maybe a Bugs forum. I used to browse through all the creator forums previously, never posting much at all. I posted mostly in the non-creator areas just to help people out with some of the basics on getting IMVU to even work.

Perhaps a "Post your speedpaints here"?
I used to use the forums to track down YouTube videos to find out everything from how to draw an eye to how to texture a dress.

edit::
Regarding avatar art, yes there is a GASR site and other numerous new ones popping up but nothing yet has been appropriately run in my opinion (yes i do have experience in moderating art sites/groups, and have never kept my position for long since i did not agree with how they were run, they are not run fairly and frankly most just wanted a title from what i've seen).
When i joined IMVU i decided to go down the art route rather than the developing one. (Yes i do have regrets about this since us artists are very much disliked and pushed into a corner due to the majority who think art theft is acceptable or repainting a celebrity and selling it for profit is okay to do.)
From my 8+ years of experience with IMVU related art, it is uncontrollable and particularly cancerous when dealing with art theft. The original GASR found in the IMVU original forum was amazing since everyone was new and friendly, nobody was trying to outsell each other and all just wanted to help each other.
Nothing compares to how it used to be, IMVU art has already been pushed out from IMVU and other sites are now dying too.
So basically, i'd be careful about allowing art shops here. Perhaps a "link your art shop here" thread would be acceptable. IMVU groups are the "new" thing now.
Sorry for the "rant" and i believe i may be a little late posting, but art on IMVU is becoming ridiculously hard to handle and there is very little who understand the boundaries when it comes to theft. Just wanted to pre-warn and add my two cents in here.

AP section - it should be possible to create a section where only those who are granted access to enter can go .
In such each persons account as long as they are the same here as suggested as they are at IMVU can be checked to see if they have AP .
That way all AP pictures and questions such as if a product maybe AP but someone wants advice or a critique before submitting .
To add there - I'd suggest as not to lose the forum due to its hosts TOS only allow links to the AP pics and not the actual pic .
This should be a solution to the whole AP issue at hand and I hope it helps .

AP section - it should be possible to create a section where only those who are granted access to enter can go .
In such each persons account as long as they are the same here as suggested as they are at IMVU can be checked to see if they have AP .
That way all AP pictures and questions such as if a product maybe AP but someone wants advice or a critique before submitting .
To add there - I'd suggest as not to lose the forum due to its hosts TOS only allow links to the AP pics and not the actual pic .
This should be a solution to the whole AP issue at hand and I hope it helps .

The main issue with this idea is that since this forum isn't directly linked to IMVU, it would require mod's and admin's to have to manually check each and every person who has applied and who joins. Not everyone publicly shows their access pass badge either. That would then require mod's and admin's to have to send a request to see, and confirm they do in fact have an access pass. Would be a lot of work to keep up with. ;p

The main issue with this idea is that since this forum isn't directly linked to IMVU, it would require mod's and admin's to have to manually check each and every person who has applied and who joins. Not everyone publicly shows their access pass badge either. That would then require mod's and admin's to have to send a request to see, and confirm they do in fact have an access pass. Would be a lot of work to keep up with. ;p

Right , but it could be a rule that if you apply for AP section then you'd have to show me yours and ill show you mine kinda thingy .
As of right now there are 155ish members , a homepage takes about 10 seconds to load max on decent internets -10 X 155 is like 1550 seconds .
% by 60 is around a few hours worth of work . That's only hours worth of work if everyone applied at the same time , probably very few or a small percentage would actually even apply . It would be more like only a few at a time and once caught up only new time consuming task for those who aren't here yet if any at all may join , each day , week , once a month . I'd happily be the checker if no one else had time , I mean who wouldn't want to scope out a buncha AP pages we'd probably all fight for that position